KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 — Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng has lambasted the police today for advising a public school in Puchong to take down its Chinese New Year decorations, following a threat from Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra).

Speaking in his capacity as DAP secretary-general to the press, he added that the police’s advice to the school was not a Cabinet decision and that he cannot accept accusations that Chinese New Year is a religious celebration.

"The Chinese New Year celebration has nothing to do with religion. We are celebrating the new year. And we cannot accept the actions of a few parties playing up the sentiments of the decorations until the school was forced to bring it down,” Lim said.

"I was made to understand that the decorations were brought down upon police advice. I cannot accept such police actions, in a school where 80 per cent of the students are non-Malays. Even when we go to shopping centres there are Chinese New Year decorations.

 "There’s no problem and there should not be any problem,” Lim added.

He pointed out that the police should never have cowered to the demands of outsiders and parties trying to play up unhealthy racial sentiments.

Furthermore, he added that schools fall under the jurisdiction of the Education Ministry and that the police should not issue such advice.

Lim pointed out that because of their actions, Chinese New Year celebrations could face a negative impact and might not be celebrated here anymore.

The finance minister said he will be accompanying Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail to visit the school today.

On Monday, lawyer Mohd Khairul Azam Abdul Aziz, who is also vice-president of the fledgling Putra, threatened to file a police report against SMK Pusat Bandar Puchong (1) in Pusat Bandar Puchong for its "religious” Chinese New Year decoration.

The lawyer claimed the decoration to be "unconstitutional”. He further claimed that Muslim parents had complained about the decoration, which they see as an attempt to propagate a non-Islam religion to students.

Khairul later claimed the school principal, Rohani Mohd Noor, promised in an email reply to take down all the Chinese New Year decorations